Midwinter.

Today I am sharing with you an excerpt from SACRED ROOTS || AUTUMN, a glimpse at our evolving midwinter traditions and rituals. I'll be sending a few more bits and pieces of the letters that send out on Sundays to give you a look inside this circle. WINTER begins after the Gregorian calendar's New Year.

In an abbreviated Autumn season we looked at the ritual of beans and the stories that we weave through simple food rituals. There was a rustic Bean Soup recipe along with many others like Late Harvest Cheese Soup and Harvest Wild Rice Quiche.

We made wreaths, planted bulbs, created pine cough syrup and tea, fermented cranberries, talked about choosing tradition, honored the Maga archetype of Autumn along with other magic and discoveries.

There are many names and celebrations for tomorrow-Yule, Midwinter, Solstice-and they all center around this time of the magical longest night when the return of the sun is anticipated. For us in the colder parts of the world, it truly is midwinter, when we are warmed by fires and long cooked stews and endless steaming mugs of tea.

Our rituals have grown and adapted as my kids add years, but the sweetness of gathering around our table for Yule with soup and bread, a candy treat and only candles to eat by continues on. I want them to always be surprised by this night with a magical table and smells that will transport them throughout the years in their memory.

One way to create special magic is the simplicity of decorating a table. I imagine that as humans we have done this through time and before tables were what we know them to be today. As I adorn the table I am creating an altar to the season or celebration which I am preparing for.

My secret is to be extra, big, much. Layer and look to add different textures and patterns. Stick with a tight color palette that creates a dramatic story.

Once a year on winter solstice I buy greens from Trader Joe's along with pomegranates, oranges and persimmons. I am not a fan of buying flowers in plastic but I do make this one exception. I will reuse the branches to make wreaths after. The kids love candy canes so I popped some green ones into the leaves.

A few weeks ago I ordered these special cloth napkins from Etsy. Ours are worn and gray and a pop of color seemed fitting. I'll tuck them away after New Year's and perhaps invest in four sets, one for each season.

I have beeswax candles in vintage brass candle holders that I collect when I come upon them. And of course a plant or two. For Thanksgiving I used holiday cactus and for solstice we have these stunning cyclamen. I prefer white cyclamen but my family adores color and these match the pomegranates.

Tucked into the scene of magnolia and eucalyptus leaves and winter fruits are my tiny glitter trees. I have collected these over the last five or six years and they come out just for this table. We find glitter for months after.

I set this table up on the eve of the solstice and in the morning light the candles. I add other candles through the house (ground floor only, the kids need their light to ready for school) and I do not turn on any lights at all until the next day. This means remembering to stock up on candles.

At every place I will set out a treat for each of the family. This year Twizzlers, gummy bears, M&Ms and dark chocolate made the shopping bag. Over the next couple of days the fruit will be munched and I will neaten things up, wash the napkins and return them to their bowl.

It is a simple tradition. Soup and bread. A warm mug. Roaring fire. Candles rather than light. A beautiful table filled with treats and symbols of winter. It is ours and it is rooted deeply in my ancestry. It pulls me back to an old knowing, the cycle of living with nature and it digs my sacred roots down.

Blessings this time of Yule, this longest night, this midwinter feast, this astrological beginning of winter, this sweet winter solstice.